If you requested an absentee ballot to vote in Ohio’s Aug. 8 election, your county elections board will start mailing them today. You can also vote at your county board beginning at 8 a.m. In case you’re just waking up to the political story of the year in Ohio, Issue 1 aims to make it more difficult to change the Ohio Constitution by raising the bar on signature requirements to put an issue on the ballot and requiring a 60% super majority in a general election to approve any amendments. (Of course, this amendment would need only 50%-plus-one-vote to pass.) Constitutional amendments have been the preferred route to make large changes in Ohio because they are harder for the gerrymandered state legislature to undo than citizen-initiated laws. The issue is complicated by abortion, since an abortion rights amendment has been submitted for the November election. With less than a month to go, we’re seeing yard signs pop up and mailers arrive. Here come the campaigns. -- Laura |
Overnight Scores and Weather |
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A group of local Republican activists and other volunteers promote State Issue 1 at a canvassing event organized by the Ross County Republican Party in Chillicothe on Saturday. The event took place three days ahead of the start of early voting for the Aug. 8 election. (Andrew J. Tobias, cleveland.com) |
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Issue 1 campaign: Groups fighting for and against State Issue 1 are ramping up their attempts to directly urge their sympathetic voters to the polls, going door to door ahead of the start of early voting this week for the Aug. 8 special election. Andrew Tobias reports the interactions reinforce that, although Issue 1′s backers have downplayed the measure’s effects on the potential abortion amendment, abortion is perhaps the key driving factor for activists and voters on both sides of the issue. Early voting: Local boards of elections will send out the first wave of absentee ballots today to voters who already have requested them for the Aug. 8 special election on Issue 1, which would make it harder to change the Ohio Constitution. Andrew Tobias and Rick Rouan report early voting centers will open at 8 a.m. today in all 88 counties for in-person early voting. Mass shooting: A mass shooting over the weekend in downtown Cleveland has raised concerns for businesses in the Warehouse District. Nine people were injured when a gunman opened fire about 2:30 a.m. Sunday near West Sixth Street and Johnson Court as people were leaving bars and restaurants in the area, reports Molly Walsh. Councilman Mike Polensek, the chairman of City Council’s Safety Committee, is questioning Mayor Justin Bibb’s urgency in addressing rising crime as body counts continue to mount in Cleveland, John Tucker reports. Police recruits: Cleveland’s police shortage is prompting Mayor Justin Bibb to go back to the negotiating table with two broad aims: offer bonuses and other incentives in hopes of retaining and recruiting more officers, and lengthen officers’ shifts to 12 hours. The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association, the union representing rank-and-file officers that would need to sign off on the changes, already rejected Bibb’s idea to institute 12-hour shifts. Courtney Astolfi reports Bibb framed the various incentives as possible “near term” solutions to help stem the losses from Cleveland’s shrinking police force. Today in Ohio: The proposal to make it harder to amend the Ohio Constitution so far seems to be generating more early voter enthusiasm than last summer’s state legislative elections. We’re talking about how by the end of June, in 15 Ohio counties, voters requested about 30,000 early ballots, seven times as many ballots, compared to the same time last year, on Today in Ohio, cleveland.com’s daily half-hour news podcast. |
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Utility charges: GOP Gov. Mike DeWine vetoed legislation last week that could have allowed gas and electric utility companies to charge their customers millions to build utility infrastructure for speculative economic development sites. Jake Zuckerman reports Republican state senators had added budget language that could have allowed the companies to charge customers to build things like poles, substations, or gas lines for economic development sites, but DeWine said that “put too much power in their hands to make those determinations.” Betting taxes: Sports betting companies must now pay double the amount of taxes on their winnings, one of many changes made in a 1,000-plus page state budget that Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law last week. And while DeWine hopes this will send a message about aggressive ad campaigns, industry experts and at least one veteran Republican lawmaker think the increase from a 10% to 20% tax rate is “shortsighted,” reports Sean McDonnell. |
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New jail: Garfield Heights officials fervently support plans to build a new Cuyahoga County jail in their backyard, but the choice may not be up to them. Kaitlin Durbin reports the 72-acre plot the county is eyeing at Transportation Boulevard and Granger Road is currently zoned for industrial park uses, but might need to be reclassified in order to support a jail by a vote or with a “special use” approved by the city’s five-member Board of Zoning Appeals. Child-care hiring: With no chance of a structural change or long-term support from the state, the child-care industry is getting creative with its hiring woes, Laura Johnston reports in our Rethinking Child Care series. Enter Tandem, launched in 2019 to connect child-care centers with job-ready staff so they don’t have to pay to advertise or train new hires, who might quit after a few weeks. |
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Home sales: A home in Cleveland’s Edgewater neighborhood sold for $6.7 million in June, making it the most expensive home sold in Cuyahoga County so far in 2023, reports Zachary Smith. |
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Violent weekend: A deadly summer continues as Cleveland attempts to recover from a weekend where 24 people were shot and four were killed, Olivia Mitchell reports. The numbers include a dozen people hurt on West Sixth Street early Sunday. Running cow: Cleveland police are trying to find the owner of a cow named Punch after it was running loose on the city's streets Monday night, Cliff Pinckard reports. |
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Ask Lucas: A reader wants to know if he should carry protection in his wallet. Lucas Daprile answers: “Whether you’re being too optimistic or not depends on how much rizz you have. You know rizz, right? Game, swag, charm, whatever you want to call it. It’s that hard-to-define subcategory of charisma that convinces people to give you their phone numbers.” Don Drumm Sundae: Two of Akron’s best-known brands have come together to create an art piece that showcases both their mediums, and fans of both have made the collaboration a roaring success, reports Brenda Cain. Nik Pappas, of the city’s popular ice cream shop chain Pav’s Creamery, and artist Don Drumm -- known for his famous sun sculptures -- teamed up to create a sundae, served in an exclusive cast aluminum bowl, created by the artist himself. Orchestra movies: The Cleveland Orchestra is adding a pair of Hollywood classics to its series of popular movie nights for its upcoming 2023-24 season at Severance Music Center, reports Joey Morona. The orchestra will play the music for “Elf” and “The Princess Bride.” Wonderstruck: On day two of the 2023 Wonderstruck Music & Arts Festival on Sunday, the pleasant dry weather meant the grounds at Lakeland Community College was ripe for those popular portable, inflatable couch chairs that many folks could be seen holding open and running around in circles to inflate. Malcolm X Abram reports the music began at 1:30 p.m. and the three stages stayed pretty consistently on time (though Nelly was a few minutes late to the stage) throughout the day. Beach rugby: The Cleveland Beach Rugby tournament is scheduled for this weekend at Cleveland Metroparks Edgewater Beach, reports Marc Bona. The third annual five-on-five competition, which will feature more than 50 teams and 550 players in four divisions, is Saturday. Grilled cheese: The Lockview in Akron caters to college students and downtown workers by day. At night, it’s a favorite pit stop for people out on the town. At all times, it offers 15 delicious grilled cheese sandwiches, write Yadi Rodriguez and Brenda Cain. RV Rocking: On this week’s episode of “Rocking the RV Life,” the Kinzbachs talk to Dan and Rachel Tekempel, a pair of empty-nesters who decided they didn’t need to wait for retirement to head for the open road. Rachel is an RN who works online and Dan trained to become a mobile RV technician. |
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Lightning strike caused South Euclid fire that led to closure of Monticello Boulevard Read more City Council approves Medina Meow Fix funding request Read more Amanda Rassi promoted to Chagrin Falls High School principal Read more It’s official: Bennett brothers have ‘market cornered’ as Orange school resource officers Read more Rocky River sisters Julia and Katelyn Ballrick serve as Mayor for a Day Read more Bay High School musicians return from United Kingdom performance tour Read more Tractor Supply store to fill former Mustard Seed space at Uptown Solon shopping center Read more University Hospitals urgent care center coming to Solon Read more |
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